Effect of stocking density on growth, survival and condition factor in tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus Gill, 1863) juveniles

Abstract

Tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) is currently exploited regionally as food and commercialized in the aquarium trade. Natural populations of A. tropicus may already be negatively affected by anthropogenic alteration of the areas in which it is distributed. However, it is necessary to deepen the knowledge for the optimization of its culture. A. tropicus cultured in three stocking densities: 100, 200, and 300 ind m-3 (D4, D8, and D12, respectively) were used in the present study to examine the effect on growth, survival, and condition factor. At the end of the eight-week trial, D4 was statistically superior in weight, length, and SGR compared to D12. While D8 was statistically similar to D4 and D12 in weight and length. There were no significant differences in the survival and condition of the fish. The optimum density in the production systems generates the optimal use of resources and the increase in the profitability of the system. Based on the results, it is recommendable a stocking density of 200 fish m-3 for an increase in the profitability of the culture infrastructure for its production as food or ornamental purposes.

Growth performance and survival rate of striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus) in the domestication

“…Furthermore, high density would imply high feces production that harms the water quality of the fish rearing media. High fish density was not able to provide adequate feed for tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) juveniles (Martínez-Cárdenas et al 2020).…”

“…While in Pacific salmon, the survival rate increases according to fish age. Survival rate values approaching 100% are closely related to the good water environment and quality as well as contained biomass and ideal fish density (Ronald et al 2014;Martínez-Cárdenas et al 2020). In blue tilapia, it was shown that bigger-sized juveniles tended to have better body conditions compared to the smaller-sized juveniles (Robisalmi et al 2017).…”

EFFECT OF STOCKING DENSITY ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF JUVENILE OF THE BLACKSTRIPE CICHLID Vieja fenestrata (CICHLIFORMES: CICHLIDAE)

“…Although cichlids are known for their aggressive behavior, native fish species of different taxonomical groups that are currently being studied for commercial purposes have also shown similar results. Martínez-Cárdenas et al (2020)…”

Larval Development in Tropical Gar (Atractosteus tropicus) Is Dependent on the Embryonic Thermal Regime: Ecological Implications under a Climate Change Context

“…In the last decade, greater interest and efforts to increase aquaculture production of tropical gar have been placed due to the reduced capture of this species in the natural environments [28,29]. These efforts have been translated in a broader knowledge on the optimal rearing conditions and husbandry practices [23,24,[38][39][40][41][42]. The optimal rearing temperature is 26-28 • C (Álvarez-González et al, unpublished results); thus, an alteration of just 4 • C seemed to be a quite realistic approach to explore the effects of a heat wave, considering that broader thermal alterations were registered in freshwater bodies [43].…”